AHS, Randall meet in semis
Amarillo High and Randall led most of the way in their opening round games in the Gene Messer Tournament of Champions on Thursday at Canyon High, and as a result will meet in today's semifinals.

A welcome expansion
The expansion of the Civic Center will allow the Amarillo Farm & Ranch Show to grow into one of the top three indoor farm shows in the nation next year, according to Cygnus Expositions officials.

Market Summary
NEW YORK (AP) - Profit warnings from Disney and Hewlett-Packard pressured Wall Street on Wednesday, sending stocks lower as nervous investors weighed a downbeat outlook against hopes for a year-end rally.

Tube treats
LOS ANGELES - Maybe we were all really, really good this year, given that Santa's bag is overflowing with holiday television shows both classic and new.

Rebottling lightning
NEW YORK - Billy Crystal has made a good living out of reading situations and finding the humor and irony in them.

Underneath her clothes
SAN DIEGO - Shakira played a peekaboo performance with her fans on a recent Friday at the San Diego Sports Arena. The Colombian crossover sensation repeatedly popped up, vanished and reappeared in various incarnations during the opening night of her first world tour.

Christian concert set
Local Christian instrumental group Shepard's Trio will perform Christmas music and selections from its new CD at an informal concert Saturday.

Crichton wins control of e-name
GENEVA (AP) - Best-selling author Michael Crichton, who wrote "Jurassic Park" and created the television series "ER," has won control of the Internet name www.michaelcrichton.com in a ruling by a United Nations panel.

Good Time Guide
Good Time Guide lists entertainment options available Thursdays through Wednesdays.

Aggie Moms to sponsor A&M Singing Cadets
The Amarillo Aggie Mother's Club will sponsor an appearance of The Texas A&M University Singing Cadets at 7 p.m. Jan. 8 in the Amarillo High School Auditorium.

Sweet Adelines group, men's chorus to perform
Gifts of the Season, a musical production featuring the Palo Duro Metro Chorus of Sweet Adelines and the Golden Spread Men's Chorus will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Tascosa High School.

Reunions
The Texas Chapter LST/Amphibious Association will have a reunion March 20-22 at the Holiday Inn South on Interstate 35 West in Fort Worth.

Poetry Society group to sponsor festival
The Hi-Plains Chapter, Poetry Society of Texas will sponsor its annual Winter Poetry Festival at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Seminar Room of the Amarillo Senior Citizens Association and will honor its contest winners at the event.

Give a woman a torque wrench and she'll rule the world
While their husbands are away fighting terrorism and dealing with international intrigue for the Central Intelligence Agency, Julie Sussman and Stephanie Glakas-Tenet (George Tenet is CIA director) are left holding down the home front.

It takes a village
Bobbye Hessenthaler keeps telling herself that she's not going to buy any more Department 56 village pieces. She's been collecting since 1985 and already has about 90 houses from different village collections.

Home and Garden Briefs
Two new roses honoring former President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, will raise money to carry on Reagan's work.

Music teachers plan series of piano recitals
Amarillo Music Teachers Association will present a series of piano recitals at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the choir and band rooms of the Music Building at Amarillo College.

Drivers don't know snow
Motorists were slippin' and a slidin' after snow and rainfall blanketed the Golden Spread on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, causing fender benders, slide-offs and jackknifed tractor-trailers. But area law enforcement officials let out a sigh of relief after no fatalities were reported in the season's initial big storm.

APD issues alert about series of assaults
A series of assaults in west and south Amarillo residences has prompted the Amarillo Police Department to remind residents to ensure their homes are locked and secure, according to an APD press release.

Farm show boasts technology
Putting in a septic system? Just moving onto some land and want to determine the drainage? Designing a center pivot irrigation system?

For Your Information
The Borger Creative Arts Club will present its annual Christmas Bazaar and Bake Sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 931 Illinois St., one block west of Huber Park in Borger.

Execution dates set for convicted murderers
Two convicted murderers from the Texas Panhandle are set to die by lethal injection in early 2003, according to a schedule of executions released Thursday by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Doctor touts benefits of clot-dissolving drug
A clot-dissolving drug can reverse the effects of a stroke if the victim receives it within three hours. When that drug, administered intravenously through the arm, first appeared in 1996, it was a shot in the arm for the field of stroke research.

Sept. 11 spurs organ donors, official says
The number of organ donors in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains increased from 18 in 2001 to 29 in 2002, Sandy Bagley, the LifeGift Organ Donation Center's West Region managing director, said Wednesday.

Christmas party set for special-needs children
Amarillo Area Healthcare Specialists LLP will provide a Christmas party for children with special health-care needs from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Thomas the Apostle Church gymnasium, 4100 S. Coulter St.

Bulletin Board
The young sprouts in the newsroom sometimes make fun of Ms. Bulletin Board's lack of familiarity with modern pop culture. Like the time when she called the singer "Jennifer Lowpants." Hey, it was close.

Lubbock man convicted in Clovis armed robbery
CLOVIS, N.M. - A Lubbock man was convicted Tuesday of armed robbery and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to a news release from the Ninth Judicial District Attorney's Office.

Bombing remembrance set
The Amarillo Veterans Affairs Health Care System will have a reception from 9 to 10 a.m. Friday in remembrance of the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor.

SAT pioneer Chauncey dies at 97
Henry Chauncey, who as founder of the Educational Testing Service played a pivotal role in the rise of standardized testing in college admissions, died Tuesday at his home in Shelburne, Vt. He was 97 and died of natural causes.

Hughes: Timing of rep's resignation odd
U.S. Rep. Larry Combest's Nov. 12 resignation announcement has stimulated disappointingly little discussion regarding exactly why the Lubbock Republican quit and why he timed his resignation in such a way that he would be re-elected to a 10th term before stepping down.

Mega churches
With 5,500 people squeezed into 4.7 acres of land, Paramount Terrace Christian Church has a population density that resembles Japan's. Through the years, it has added new facilities, bought up homes around it and laid asphalt for new parking lots to accommodate the large number of people who choose to worship there.

Former Air Force mom, Navy son root for Army
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Sharian Gardner served eight years in the Air Force. She has a son in Japan serving as a Navy corpsman with a Marine division, and another relative in the Coast Guard.

Aggies not confirming Franchione as candidate
COLLEGE STATION (AP) - Texas A&M president Robert Gates wouldn't confirm reports Wednesday that school officials received permission to speak with Alabama's Dennis Franchione about becoming the Aggies football coach.

JP releases A&M player's autopsy report
BRYAN (AP) - Texas A&M football player Brandon Fails died of a blood clot that moved into his lungs from his surgically repaired right knee, according to preliminary autopsy results released Wednesday.

Brief: Pudge's Texas' career may be ending
ARLINGTON (AP) - Ivan Rodriguez would part ways with the Texas Rangers on Saturday, unless a new contract is signed or the team offers salary arbitration for the 10-time All-Star catcher.

Briles leading candidate for Houston coaching job
HOUSTON (AP) - Texas Tech running backs coach Art Briles, who won four Class 4A state championships at Stephenville, has been offered the University of Houston's vacant coaching job, a television station reported Friday.

Brief: Palmer still in hunt for tour card
LA QUINTA, Calif. - Ryan Palmer shot 1-over-par 73 on Thursday in the second round of the 2002 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament to remain in contention for a tour card next year.

Franchione takes A&M job
COLLEGE STATION (AP) - Dennis Franchione didn't have much to say about becoming the new football coach at Texas A&M.

Glavine, Mets reach deal
NEW YORK (AP) - Tom Glavine, the most sought-after pitcher on the free-agent market, reached agreement with the New York Mets on a three-year contract, his agent said Thursday night.

Path of a Champion
NEW YORK - The 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season started with Tony Stewart's engine belching white smoke and dying on the third lap of the Daytona 500. It ended with Stewart celebrating a championship amid the smoke and explosions of fireworks.

No. 14 Kansas downs Central Missouri
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Keith Langford had 23 points to lead four Kansas players with at least 20 and the 14th-ranked Jayhawks rebounded from their embarrassing Thanksgiving week with a 97-70 victory over Central Missouri State on Wednesday night.

Early deadlines
The Globe-News observed early deadlines for the area and city edtions Wednesday night because of the inclement weather.

Brief: Judge awards athletes for secret videotapes
CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge has ordered eight companies and three people to pay more than $506 million to 46 male college athletes who were secretly videotaped in locker rooms, restrooms and showers.

NASCAR exceeds TV expectations
NEW YORK (AP) - The ratings for NASCAR's race broadcasts have exceeded the high expectations of the TV networks after the first two years of a six-year $2.8 billion deal.

QB not troubled by injury
PITTSBURGH - Tommy Maddox can't wait to throw that first pass. Can't wait for that first completion. Can't wait even for that first hit.

Hokies hoping to have impact on title chase
Willie Pile and his Virginia Tech teammates still lament their lost opportunity this season. Humming along at 8-0, the Hokies lost three games in a row and dropped out of the national title picture.

Pioneering TV executive Roone Arledge dies
NEW YORK (AP) - Roone Arledge, a pioneering television executive at ABC News and Sports responsible for creating shows from "Monday Night Football" to "Nightline," died Thursday. He was 71.

Chisum to file bill for annual engine tax
AUSTIN - Cars, off-road equipment, and many motorboats and motorcycles would carry a $5 to $7 annual fee to raise money for air pollution-control programs under a proposal Wednesday by a Republican lawmaker.

Arthur Andersen to sell art
HOUSTON (AP) - A withered accounting firm could be just what an art lover needs for something to spruce up a room.

Trader indicted in fraud
HOUSTON (AP) - A former El Paso Corp. trader was indicted Wednesday on charges he reported 48 false transactions to a publication widely used to calculate the index price of natural gas.

Confessed killer of two executed
HUNTSVILLE (AP) - A South Texas man who confessed to killing his common-law wife and brother, whom he suspected of having an affair, was executed Wednesday.

Pioneer lawmaker dies
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Elizabeth Bullock Andrews, the only woman elected to Congress from Alabama, died Tuesday. She was 92.

Building facade falls; two workers injured
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Two workers were injured when the front wall of a five-story hotel under construction collapsed, sending a pile of bricks crashing to the downtown sidewalk.

Group backs expansion of state sales tax
AUSTIN (AP) - Expanding the state sales tax to include some services would create billions of much-needed dollars without hurting poor people, the leader of a think tank that tracks issues affecting low-income families said Wednesday.

Craddick to close bill-analysis office
AUSTIN (AP) - The presumptive new speaker of the Texas House plans to eliminate an independent office that analyzes bills, a move consumer advocates warn could increase lobbyists' influence in the Legislature.

Check this Out
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A Steinway grand piano caught in an accidental downpour inside the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts may be permanently out of tune.

44-year-old's body found
LIBERAL, Kan. - A 44-year-old Anadarko Petroleum Corp. employee was found dead Tuesday near one of the company's oil wells.

Mullah Omar warns U.S. of chaos if war launched
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - A statement attributed to ousted Afghan leader Mullah Mohammed Omar says the United States will face more "hostility, chaos and destruction" if it attacks Iraq, an Arab television station reported Wednesday.

Today in History
On Dec. 5, 1933, national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment.

Amish home burns; 5 dead
PULASKI, Pa. (AP) - A wood- and coal-burning furnace started a fire that destroyed an Amish family's wood-frame home and killed five children sleeping inside, authorities said Wednesday.

U.S. productivity grows at 5.1 percent in third quarter
WASHINGTON - U.S. companies' productivity grew more briskly in the summer than previously thought and orders to factories rose in October for the first time in three months, suggesting the struggling economy will avoid falling into a new recession.

Mexican reporter refuses to name sources
MEXICO CITY (AP) - A Mexico City reporter who was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors refused to reveal the confidential sources he cited in a story about corruption at the state-owned oil monopoly, his newspaper reported Wednesday.

Administration to make case for U.N. action
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration set the stage Thursday for making its case for U.N. Security Council action against Saddam Hussein, contending it has solid evidence that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

Check this Out
NILES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Authorities were on the lookout for two elusive but most definitely unarmed escapees.<

Castro tells Cubans of dangers of rum, capitalism
HAVANA - Cuba may mean cigars, rum and Fidel Castro to many outside the island, but now Castro - who famously quit cigars nearly two decades ago - is admonishing Cubans they might be better off without smoking and drinking.

Clovis man wins prize
CLOVIS, N.M. - The second Clovis man in less than four months won $55,000 in the New Mexico Lottery's "High 5's" instant scratcher game, according to a New Mexico Lottery news release.

Pharmacist gets 30 years
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A pharmacist who diluted chemotherapy drugs given to thousands of cancer patients was sentenced to the maximum of 30 years in prison Thursday after the victims' families tearfully told how the scheme had cost them precious days with their loved ones.

Iraqis: Inspectors are spying
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq protested sharply Wednesday over U.N. weapons inspectors' surprise intrusion into one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces, accusing the arms experts of being spies and staging the palace search as a provocation that could lead to war.

Prosecutors ask judge to overturn convictions in Central Park case
NEW YORK (AP) - Citing new DNA evidence, the district attorney asked a judge Thursday to throw out the convictions of five young men in one of the nation's most racially charged cases: the 1989 attack on a Central Park jogger who was raped, beaten and left for dead.

Military recruiters get info from high schools
BOSTON - A little-noticed provision in a new federal education law is requiring high schools to hand over to military recruiters some key information about its juniors and seniors: name, address and phone number.

United stock price plunges
CHICAGO (AP) - United stock plummeted Thursday, losing two-thirds of its value, amid rampant speculation that the world's second-largest airline was about to declare bankruptcy.

Palestinian teen killed as militant groups clash
GAZA City, Gaza Strip (AP) - A 12-year-old boy was killed and his father critically wounded Wednesday in Gaza in a clash between opposing Palestinian groups over who would write graffiti on a wall, witnesses and hospital officials said.

Lady Buffs 1 and done
It wasn't supposed to end this way for West Texas A&M - not this year, not this soon and certainly not in front of a home crowd of 2,789.
Video
Lady Buffs 1 and done : Dial-up / High-speed
Video courtesy of NBC 4 - requires the RealPlayer